Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.